


Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields

by infandomswetrust



Category: The Terror (TV 2018), The Terror - Dan Simmons
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, No Sex, Piggyback Rides, Public Display of Affection, Strawberries, Strawberry Picking, Summer, Tattoos, Teasing, a lot of allusions to sex, hints of bdsm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:09:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24494032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infandomswetrust/pseuds/infandomswetrust
Summary: Had he realized it was the hottest day of the year, he might have taken Henry to the pool instead of strawberry picking.//inspired by my tweets
Relationships: John Bridgens/Harry Peglar
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21





	Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields

**Author's Note:**

> "Imagine your otp strawberry picking" 
> 
> Fitzier: stood in the field arguing about the right way to pick strawberries. Their baskets are empty
> 
> Bridgelar: John is casually picking strawberries while Henry is riding piggyback and pointing out red ones"
> 
> Title is from The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever"

It was the hottest day of the year.  
John wasn't sure if that was a confirmed fact, but it certainly felt like it was, and his senses and intuition rarely failed him.  
Having traveled all over the world in his life, the heat didn't really bother him.  
He'd spent months on end in tropical climates; a hot day in England was nothing to him.  
Henry, however, hadn't traveled beyond the UK in his, comparatively, short life. He was entirely too English when it came to his perception of the weather. Sometimes, he'd complain about the heat as soon as the thermometer climbed past 19°C. 

Perhaps John should have considered that fact when his boyfriend had suggested they drive to a nearby strawberry field. They'd been wanting to go there for a while, but with the end of the semester approaching, John had had a lot to do at university. Of course, he did far more than necessary too. It was important to him that all of his students felt prepared for their final exams. He taught extra tutorials, one-on-one intense practice, led a study group and wrote mock exams. Henry had once commented on the fact that John's entire course had his private phone number. John had shrugged, unfazed. If someone had an urgent question, he wanted to be available for them no matter where he was. And to be fair to his students, no one had ever abused that privilege.

Most of the exams had already happened on Friday, so this was the first weekend of the summer that John could be with Henry without any interruptions. 

They'd slept in, lazed about in bed for a while trading sleepy kisses, and finally got up for a big, hearty breakfast. 

That was when Henry had suggested they finally go strawberry picking. In fact, he'd outright begged, and there was no way John would ever be able to deny him. Outside the bedroom, that was. 

At first, he'd looked forward to a lovely day in the sun, but by now he was seriously questioning his decision. 

Henry looked slightly too pale, and new sweat was forming on his forehead within seconds every time he wiped it away. They'd barely filled half of their first basket, and already, the younger man looked about ready to faint.

"It's too bloody hot," John heard him mumble.

After a moments hesitation, he stepped up to the younger man and rested a soothing, cool hand on the back of his neck. The shiver that ran through Henry's body didn't go unnoticed.

"Henry, love, why don't you go sit in the shade for a while?" John suggested gently, drawing light circles on the side of his lover's neck.

"No!" Henry whined immediately, looking at John with deeply wounded eyes. "We've been wanting to come here for ages!" 

"You'd still 𝘣𝘦 here," John responded with a soft chuckle. "Just taking a break."

His words did nothing to chase Henry's pout away. 

"This is meant to be a 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦. Where we pick strawberries 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳."

"I'd prefer picking strawberries on my own to a fainting Henry."

"John!"

John laughed despite himself, pressing a sweet kiss to his boyfriend's pretty pout.

"Alright, my sweet. Drink something, at least," he demanded, shifting his backpack around to get a water bottle out.

Henry reached for it, but he grimaced the moment he'd taken his first sip.

"Ugh..." At John's questioning look, he shook his head slightly. "Warm."

John shrugged apologetically, taking the bottle to take a few gulps himself. It was far from refreshing, but it would have to do.

When he turned back to Henry, the young man was standing with his head tilted back, scanning the sky.

"Of course, no clouds in sight," he sighed, looking back down at John. "Remind me, why are our summers suddenly near Mediterranean?" 

John smiled mildly. It was an exaggeration but, in all honesty, not by much.

"Climate change, love."

Henry rolled his eyes, nudging John's side.

"That was a rhetorical question."

"I know." John laughed softly when Henry stuck his tongue out in response to his quip and snaked his arm around the young man's waist to pull him in. 

He could feel Henry's hot skin pressing against his own. The front of his shirt was drenched, and John would be lying if he said he hadn't snuck a peek or two.

"Are you sure you want to stay?" he asked his boyfriend, his voice soft and more serious now.

Henry nodded, leaning up to kiss John tenderly. John wrapped his arms tighter around him, even though he was aware it probably wouldn't help with the heat. He simply couldn't resist his lover.

"I want to see you work in the sun half-naked for a bit longer," Henry said, rather cheekily, when he pulled back. 

John huffed a laugh.

"Half-naked?" he echoed. "I'm wearing a shirt."

"A tank top isn't a shirt. I can see your full arms-" 

"Scandalous!" 

"-and I can definitely see far too much of your chest to be thinking decent thoughts."

Henry smirked at John, who mirrored the expression and kissed the younger man once more. 

Once they broke the kiss, John stepped back entirely, holding up his basket.

"Why don't we fill this, and then you can tell me about those indecent thoughts you're having..." 

Henry chuckled happily and nodded, though John could see he was no less exhausted than before.

His little bookworm was smart, but he was also too stubborn for his own good. John knew that if he didn't keep an eye on Henry, he might very well faint for real.

He put their water bottle away, but just before he could shoulder the backpack again, he got an idea.

They were almost alone on the field. At the other end of it, he could just about make out a parent with their child, but other than that, it was just the two of them. John assumed the heat was keeping most people inside.

Decision made, he put the backpack on the ground and reached for Henry instead. The young man's quizzical sound turned into a squeal when John easily hefted him onto his back. Henry giggled and immediately wrapped his legs and arms around him, clinging to him like a monkey.  
It wasn't the first time John had given his lover a piggyback ride, but it never failed to excite Henry.

"There. Now you can help," John said simply, slowly starting to walk along the bushes again. Henry's weight was next to nothing to him, even on a hot day like this, and he appreciated that Henry was just as aware of that fact. Instead of arguing, the young man immediately accepted his fate and began tracing the tattoos on John's arms and shoulders with soft, happy hums.  
John soon recognized the melody as the aria 'Batti, batti, o bel Masetto', and he had to chuckle despite himself. He wondered if there was such a thing as Freudian earworm.

"John." Henry had paused his humming and tapped the grey owl on his shoulder to get his attention. "Down there," he said, pointing over the older man's shoulder. "There's a nice one behind those leaves."

John smiled, crouching slightly to find the strawberry his lover had indicated and rising again easily. 

"Here," he said, holding the basket up for Henry to take. "You take this, then I have a free hand to make sure you don't fall."

And so, they worked their way across the field, with Henry peeking over John's shoulder to spot the strawberries he wanted, and John carrying him along as he obligingly picked every single one. 

Their basket was full in what seemed like no time at all, except John's back was telling him it had, in fact, been 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 time.  
When they reached the grassy patch bordering the field - thankfully in the shade of a couple of large trees - he tapped Henry's shin gently.

"Have mercy on me, I'm old."

Henry chuckled, clinging to him all the more. 

"You're not old. Just wise."

John hummed doubtfully and suddenly grabbed Henry's arms to swing him around to his front. Henry looked startled by the swiftness of the move, held up against John's chest, still suspended off the ground, and the older man smiled at the beautiful, adorable look on his lover's features.

"In that case, I am wise and 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥," he stated quietly, rubbing his nose against Henry's before closing the gap to kiss him again.

Henry sighed against his lips happily. The tension seemed to bleed out of his body all at once, now that they were in the shadow of the tree.

"... Shall we go get them weighed?" Henry hummed once John had finally put them down. 

John glanced at their strawberries for a moment before shaking his head. 

"Not just yet," he said, and dropped down onto the cool grass before Henry could question it. 

His lover smiled and readily sat down next to him.  
John studied him for a moment, an absent, loving smile on his lips.

"Who knew you had so many freckles..." he mused, lifting a hand to trace Henry's cheekbone gently.

Henry smiled back, stroking his fingers down John's arm.

"Who knew you could get so tan?" he shot back. There wasn't exactly much skin visible between the tattoos, but it was enough to see the effect of the sun.

John chuckled and brought the hand from Henry's cheek up into his hair.

The younger man leaned into the touch, and soon, John had a lapful of Henry's head and was stroking his soft, slightly sweaty hair.

The younger man had his eyes closed, and John was aware he'd probably fall asleep soon. He did nothing to stop that from happening. When Henry's breath even out and his head fell to the side slightly, his face now pressed to John's stomach, the older man kept stroking his hair and simply admired the beautiful siren of a man he got to call his own.  
They sat like that for a long time. John would never get tired of looking at Henry. He barely noticed the sun beginning to set. 

It wasn't until Henry stirred and blinked up at him with sleepy eyes that John realized the entire field was empty now. 

He had the very brief desire to undress Henry and take him right here on the grass, but the last thing he wanted was for his lover to end up with bug bites all over his body.

Henry yawned and stretched before sitting up to press a featherlight kiss to John's chin.

"What time is it?" he asked, glancing around with furrowed brows. 

John wasn't actually sure, and he didn't bother to check.

"Time to go home. Come on, I'll make up chocolate dipped strawberries for dinner."

Henry laughed without looking up from where he was carefully dusting off his clothes.

"That is 𝘯𝘰𝘵 proper dinner. I'll make us bangers and mash, we still have some sausages in the fridge."

"Dessert, then."

Henry grinned, holding his hand out to help John up.

"Only if you feed them to me."

John laughed, scanning the field for their backpack while Henry picked up the strawberry basket.

"I assumed that was implied," he responded, turning back to Henry once he'd located the backpack.

Henry smiled, reaching for John's hand and intertwining their fingers.

"Let's go, o bel Masetto," he said, proving that he and John shared not only a soul, but a brain too.

John laughed and gladly led Henry off the field to get their basket weighed.

To his surprise and Henry's delight, they (he) had picked almost 6kg worth of strawberries.

While John paid, Henry chuckled at the scale.

"No wonder you were tired."

**Author's Note:**

> My Twitter is @actual_cyborg in case you wanna read more riveting tweets about cold boys picking strawberries


End file.
